Brighouse Composers Contest

Last night I was fortunate to attend the finals of Brighouse and Rastrick Band Composers' Contest where ten of the entries were performed and winner announced. Full marks to the band and to James Gourlay for what turned out to be a fantastic evening thanks to the quality of the entires but also to the time and commitment which the band had obviously put into this project - all of the pieces (and some of them were extremely difficult) were superbly performed. To hear ten world premieres in the space of a couple of hours was certainly a bit special!

The worthy winner was Paul Lovatt Cooper for his piece West Ridings, which will be used as the opening number in the band's 125th anniversary concert next month.

Big thanks to all at Brighouse for an enjoyable and worthwhile evening, and congratulations to Paul.

theMouthPieceRelated Searches

:clap: Seconded. I was one of the finalists and really enjoyed the evening (even though I didn't win!) There were some fascinating pieces and Paul's was a deserving winner. If you can get to Huddersfield on 25th March, do so - it's a great piece to open a concert. Many, many thanks to everyone at Brighouse for the time and effort they had obviously put into organising and rehearsing, and well done Paul.

I was there last night and it was a very enjoyable concert (especially being free!!)
All the pieces were good (loved the Bhuna mix!)
I thought West Ridings was the worthy winner as the opener of their 125th Anniversary concert. However I was with the audience in that I really enjoyed the piece Fanfare to Gallantry by Richard Taylor although it isn't really a concert "opener".

Flattery gets you everywhere. Like Richard's piece it was never going to be a traditional opener but I wanted to avoid the John Williams trap.

And since we got a bit obsessed with titles last night I should have pointed out that Bhuna was one of my cats who sadly died last year. Tikka is still alive and well - goodness only knows what happened to Jalfrezi.

theMouthPieceRelated Searches

Im glad that the evening went with such success. Having played through all the pieces entered (around 40) it was very interesting to see the various directions the pieces took. From street march styles, movie themes, fanfares & more contempory styles. As with all music the members of the band all had their own personal favourites.
It was also a great idea to invite the finalists to speak to the audience of how their ideas were developed & also some of the names! Plus the fact that the listeners had a sheet that they could add their comments & their choice on made them feel more a part of the evening.
All in all a very successful event for all concerned, not just the winner.

... It was also a great idea to invite the finalists to speak to the audience of how their ideas were developed & also some of the names! Plus the fact that the listeners had a sheet that they could add their comments & their choice on made them feel more a part of the evening.
Simon - Bb bass & Contest Secretary B&R

Click to expand...

- did you make it a contest pre-requisite for each composer to outline their thoughts and ideas in writing ... or was it left to your conductors to interpret the works?

I was unfortunately not able to attend the finals evening (being in NZ has something to do with it ), but it was really great to knowing that a top band was playing through one of my pieces (Inspiration Ave. ).

To answer Brassneck, we just thought as we would do the final in front of an audience that we would get the attending finalists to say a few words before we played their piece. Its just interesting to all there to find out if there is a reason for the name, or the piece or the direction they wanted to take.